I have procrastinated writing this blog perhaps because of the weakness I feel in face of the pain and atrocities this war in Ukraine has brought to the forefront of our newsfeeds. Each day I see more images and videos of lives being shattered and changed forever due to this invasion in a land far away from my own home, an invasion I cannot fathom to understand. And I can only sit here in my privileged safe haven in Montreal, Canada and watch...... It seems to me how un- believable it is that we have come to this point in 2022.
Here in Canada we had focused on many other things including a small growing but vocal movement asking for freedoms from Covid restrictions. This too I had trouble understanding as in my family are those who are vulnerable to the ravages of Covid and are frail or elderly or both. For us, the minor intrusions of restrictions or vaccinations did not seem to outweigh the benefits for our beloved family members health and lives.
And so the world, to me at least, has been a confusing and scary place of late. People's reactions and opinions seem so out of place at times, so hard lined, so, well, so oppositional. It's like we have forgotten we are fellow human beings. This pandemic, whether it is the reason for it or not, seems to have affected our society all over the world as a whole. Obviously the Russian invasion of Ukraine is more complicated than that and perhaps is even more evil in intent than I can imagine, but I can only speak from my tiny perspective here in Montreal watching it from so far away.
Just yesterday, walking in a local food store, I witnessed a fellow shopper yelling at another who had accidentally bumped their food cart into theirs. The recipient could only stand there awestruck as his assailant yelled obscenities at him.
I found some comfort, small that it was, with the harvest of my microgreens this week. It was like a well waited for reprieve from watching the news online and on television. As I trimmed the stalks, the sound of the knife cutting through the stems, and the smell of fresh micros lingered in the air. I had put some quiet music on and listened as I harvested. How odd it was that I was there enjoying this moment when such terrible atrocities could be happening half a world away. Was this right? Was it fair? It certainly did not seem so even though I have to admit it felt good to take a break and just enjoy something I love.
My eyes lingered onto one of the trays I was harvesting, onto one lone microgreen, head poking above the rest, different in shape and leaf form from the rest. Its stalk a beautiful hue of purple contrasted with the white stalks all around it. It was a lone purple kohlrabi seed that had accidentally landed into a tray of triton radish......but there it was. Alone, but triumphant, in a sea of green and white colored triton radish. A symbol of how a small tiny minority can stand out triumphantly amongst a huge majority. How just one entity can create diversity.
Now I do not want to get too symbolic here but I have to admit it made me think how small plants as microgreens can make huge differences in your healthy diet makeup.
Researchers looked at four groups of vitamins and other phytochemicals – including vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene — in 25 varieties of microgreens. They found that the microgreens had four to six times more nutrients than the mature leaves of the same plant. How, although these green foods are small, they pack a mighty punch in terms of nutrition for your diet. If you want more information, here is a link on What are the Benefits of MicroGreens? | Urban Leaf (geturbanleaf.com)
If you have never tried microgreens , now is the time to try. Be courageous in your food intake. Make diversity a goal, and eating healthier, meaning more fresh and raw foods. Support local producers of food, and if you're in Montreal my company MicroCosm Microgreens ! Like that lone micro growing amongst a sea of others, be the diversity we all need. I am also hoping, that though we are few, you and I can be the change, in a small way, that moves us more towards our humanity, and makes us more giving and generous and forgiving of others. If we could just be more kind, more understanding, more humane. Maybe we would have less to not understand about in our world.